Miami Heat: 5 takeaways from Game 5 loss to the Boston Celtics
The Miami Heat should play Meyers Leonard if Bam Adebayo isn’t healthy.
One of the bigger detriments to the Miami Heat’s play on Friday was the timid nature of Bam Adebayo, their second All-Star and top big man. Yet one can’t help but draw the lines between his play in Game 5 and the wrist injury he suffered in the fourth quarter of Game 4.
Miami’s big finished with just 13 points on Friday, and it was mostly scored on jumpers. He grabbed eight rebounds and had eight assists, but he lacked his usual physicality. Before Game 5, Adebayo was averaging 21.5 points and 11 rebounds in this series with Boston.
And on the other end, the Celtics bigs weren’t’ seeing nearly as much success before Friday night. Theis and Enes Kanter combined for 23 points and 17 rebounds in the Game 5 win. You can safely bet that’s something coach Spoelstra and his staff will look into neutralizing before Game 6.
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One suggestion? Maybe giving Meyers Leonard a bigger role than riding the bench and serving as the team’s cheerleader. He was the starting center for the Heat the entire regular season after all, and he didn’t earn that by putting up flashy double-doubles on a nightly basis.
Leonard averaged 6.1 points and 5.1 rebounds in the regular season. His defense played a large part in Miami’s success, but an ankle injury back in January cost him his role.
The Heat can’t play Leonard in the starting lineup but should let him see some of the backup minutes. Boston’s bigs will be rolling into Game 6 with some confidence, and under the impression that they’ll be playing primarily against a non-healthy Adebayo.